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Allie

Let’s be honest. Most of us have woken up with a headache after indulging in a few too many glasses of wine. This, friends, is what we call a hangover, and in this case we recommend you take two aspirin and drink lots of water.

But what about the folks who get headaches after just a few sips of wine? Although we’re lucky not to fall into this camp, Allie’s sister and several of our friends do, so we decided to find out why.

WINE HEADACHE THEORIES

One theory is that sulfites found in wine are to blame for such headaches. Sulfites are chemical compounds that are produced naturally by yeast during fermentation. They’re also added by winemakers to preserve the wine’s character, flavor, and color, as well as to prevent oxidation and fight off naturally occurring bacteria. While not all winemakers add additional sulfites, they’re a natural product of yeast, so almost all wines contain them.

According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), wines containing at least 10 parts per million of sulfites must say “contains sulfites” on their label. This label designation was intended to protect people that may be allergic to them. That said, it’s important to note that many foods such as dried fruits and cured meats also have sulfites, and often at much higher levels than wine. So if you don’t get a headache after eating a slice of salami, then it’s not the sulfites in wine causing your wine headache.

Although the sulfite theory is popular among wine headache sufferers, Dr. Andrew Waterhouse, professor of enology at University of California, Davis, argues against it. In an article published on his website, Waterhouse Lab, he says that while sulfites could cause headaches, no good medical study has been carried out to address the question. We contacted him for further comment and he agrees that there is something in wine which does cause headaches, but that the source has not yet been determined. He says that it would be helpful if some organization could support a study to figure it out—without medical research data there’s no way to know for sure whether it’s the sulfites or something else in wine that’s to blame.

Another more recent explanation for the cause of wine headaches are histamines, or chemical substances produced by yeast and bacteria during fermentation that can cause allergy symptoms such as a runny nose, dry eyes, or a headache if the body perceives these compounds as unnatural. Although this theory currently lacks medical evidence as well, winemaker Robert Rex at Deerfield Ranch Winery, a certified organic winery in California, believes it to be true. He’s developed a concept called Clean Wine in an effort to prove that wines with low levels of histamines do not cause headaches. We recently sat down with him to taste his wines and to learn more about this theory.

CLEAN WINE

Rex defines Clean Wine as wine that has been made without any elements that are unhealthy for you (histamines, spores, bacteria, etc.), which can be produced during the fermentation process. He says that by removing bacteria-causing substances before making wine, you can keep the fermentation clean.

Rex explains that this is accomplished at Deerfield in several ways. First, he is diligent about sourcing his grapes from places where varietals grow the best and from properly managed vineyards so that the resulting fruit is sound. He purchases 98% of his grapes from 28 different vineyards, all of which are organic growers. As Rex explains, “My talent is in the winery, so I partner with people who grow great grapes. And the best grapes are grown by people who don’t make wine.”

To prevent damage to the grapes during harvest, Deerfield uses small bins to transport them so that that they don’t get crushed under their own weight on the way to the winery. Damaged fruit is more susceptible to bacteria and bacteria produces histamines, so Rex takes care to ensure the berries stay intact. Any juice that does form in the bottom of these bins is discarded because it can contain higher levels of bacteria and spores.

Once the grapes reach the winery they are triple sorted, which is the most crucial part of making Clean Wine. First, the grapes are hand sorted to remove those that have bird damage or other visible types of damage/bacteria. Then they are de-stemmed and softly shaken to remove twigs and any materials other than the grapes. Finally, they are hand sorted again to remove any damaged berries remaining. This process is important because eliminating the berries/substances that produce bacteria in turn prevents the formation of histamines.

Another important part of making Clean Wine is close monitoring of the yeasts for signs of stress during fermentation. Stressed yeasts can produce bacteria, which in turn can produce histamines, so it’s important that the yeasts are kept happy. Rex does this by monitoring the sugar levels and temperature of the must to keep both consistent—a drop in either can cause the yeasts’ growth rates to slow, which in turn allows for bacteria to grow.

Rex also feeds the yeasts organic yeast food and gives them oxygen to keep them healthy and growing. Additionally, he regularly checks them under a microscope to look for any signs of stress that could have been overlooked. That said, Rex doesn’t really need equipment to know if the yeasts are stressed. As he says, “Everyone knows when their baby is sick.”

Lastly, before Rex bottles his Clean Wine, it undergoes a sophisticated cross flow filtration to remove any stray yeast, spores or bacteria. Rex says this in no way strips the wine, it just improves it. In his words, “Clean wine tastes better than dirty wine. If you keep things out of the wine that don’t belong in it, it has a better expression of fruit, it tastes better and it ages better because it’s stable and clean.”

Although Rex has tested his Clean Wines for histamines and their effect on headaches, he doesn’t have anything to compare his data too. He says that there’s a consensus among scientists that histamines cause headaches, but that further testing is necessary to develop a database of evidence. He believes this is coming soon, but in the meantime, he’s compiling his own evidence based primarily on consumer feedback.

Rex was inspired by his wife, PJ, to found Deerfield Ranch Winery and to focus on histamine levels because she suffers from their ill effects, so she’s been an important test subject in his quest to make wines that she’s able to drink. Unlike PJ, we can’t personally attest to the positive effects of Clean Wine, but we encourage those of you who do suffer from wine headaches to try one of Rex’s wines and to report back to us with your results. We recommend the following:

We’re not experts in this field, and currently neither the scientific nor medical communities can conclusively say what causes wine headaches. While sulfites or histamines might be to blame, it could also simply be that wine is a diuretic which can dehydrate the body, resulting in a headache, or that wines with a lot of sugar can cause your blood sugar levels to drop and in turn cause a headache. So if you suffer from wine headaches, the best thing to do is to experiment with different types of wine to determine which ones react the best to your personal sensitivities.

And remember that more than a few glasses of wine without proper hydration will undoubtedly cause a headache, much like any other adult beverage. The remedy for those headaches, however, warrants an article of its own!

Allison Albanese has worked in the finance industry for the last seven years as Managing Director of Investor Relations for a hedge fund in NYC. She is also the founder of Parched: NYC, a website launching soon that is dedicated to all things cocktail, wine and beverage-related in NY. Allison is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently studying for her Advanced Sommelier certification.

Melissa Diaz has spent over 12 years working in the media industry and is currently the Consumer Insights Director at Parade Media Group. Prior to joining Parade she worked at the New York Times in Advertising Market Research. Melissa is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently studying for her Advanced Sommelier certification.